Firstly though, the day before, I went to college as normal. It was my last day of college before I broke up for half term and so for most of the day, I didn't really do anything. We were supposed to have Carl in the morning, but he wasn't feeling well so Brian took us instead, although he didn't actually really teach us that much. Instead, we mostly just talked.
He asked me how my interview went at Teeside and I told him it went quite badly. He tried to console me, saying that some people are just like that, referring to the crappy interviewer I had. He said I shouldn't worry.
We ended up going home around 2:30pm.
That night, I checked my UCAS application form online and I saw that Teeside had actually offered me a place! Well, the actual wording was that I had to get 160 points but I've already got that and I haven't even completed my course yet which means that I've got 160 points AND points to come in. So, in other words, I have been accepted to Teeside!
After such a horrible interview, it still worked out well. I was pleased.
The next day, I didn't have to be up as early for Chester as I did for Teeside. My appointment was at 9:45am and I started getting ready at 8:30am. My Mum and Rob picked me up once more and we headed to Chester. It didn't take long at all, just 30 minutes. We even had time to stop and get something to eat for breakfast first.
I was really dreading this interview after what had happened with the last. I was now scared they would all be like that.
I went to reception and gave in my name. The guy told me that my appointment was at 9:15am and to go right up. "Hold on, 9:15?", I said. "It says 9:45 on my letter" and I opened the letter up to show him...only it said 9:15! So I was already very very late and I was worried that I was too late.
While my Mum and Rob sat in the cafe, I tried to find my way to the graphic design part of the University. I think it's a little uncourteous that you do have to find your own way when you can easily get lost. It can't be that hard to have someone escort you. And, as I proved on Saturday, I did indeed get lost. I ended up going up some stairs that took me into a large art room. There was no one around to ask for directions and once more, I was panicing. I called out to see if anyone was about, but nothing.
Finally, after searching a little more somewhere else, I managed to find an open door, where a tutor was interviewing a student while another tutor sat and listened too. I asked them if they knew where I should go for my graphic design interview, only to realise later on that I had asked the parent of the student who was being interviewed instead of the tutor. Regardless though, the tutor told me to take a seat outside and he'd be with me in about ten minutes.
Those ten minutes seemed quite long. My mind was racing. I was scared that I would have another interview like Teeside. So much so that I checked my portfolio to see if I had remembered the disk with my work on it this time and thankfully, it was there.
The tutor came out with the student and his parent and said goodbye to them before welcoming me into the classroom.
"possiblydangerous, eh?", he said to me, looking at my application form with my email address on it. "So does that mean I should be worried?", he joked. I felt far more at ease already. "Yeah, really scared", I said, jokingly.
I apologised for being late, explaining that I thought my interview was at 9:45, not 9:15 and he said it was fine.
So, we sat down and he asked me to get my work out and as I was doing so, we chatted, but nowhere near as interrogative as Teeside. It was so much more laid back. I started pulling work across and explaining to him how and why I had created it and he seemed very impressed. He even picked up on the fact that I had used Peter Saville's (graphic designer) Factory Records' (record company he worked for) address on a letterhead I had designed which meant I could tell him a bit about him and what I thought of his work.
One thing that he really liked was my CD packaging work. He even went so far as to really inspect it properly, opening the case, taking the CD out and also having a look at the booklet itself, before putting it all back together and standing it up on the table, before remarking that if he saw that in a shop, he'd pick it up. It made me feel good and far more relaxed than I had been just a few minutes ago. Another thing that impressed him was that I had taken the time to rewrite all of the ingredients in an energy drink onto my own wrapper.
"You wrote all of this yourself?", he asked.
"Yeah, I did"
"What, you typed all of this out?"
"Yeah"
"And what does your doctor think of this?...I'm only joking"
"He's only let me out for the day", I replied, joking.
Unfortunately, he said he didn't have time to look at my digital work and I was quite disappointed about that. However, he said that even based on the work that I had produced on paper, he was impressed and that he would like to offer me a place on the course! I said thanked him.
He said he had been really looking forward to meeting me and that he enjoyed reading my personal statement and the reference that Brian had given me. He said he hoped to see me in September and shook my hand.
Now that was a good interview.
I walked back to the cafe feeling great. Very happy. I told my Mum and she was happy for me too.
After that, since it was actually a complete visit day at Chester, we went to go sit in a hall for a tour of the University. In the hall were about another 600 people including students and their parents. There was a guy speaking about the Uni and then a guy from the Student Union. After both of them had talked, a video was put on and it was very very well produced and it impressed me enough to want to go there. It sold me over.
After the video, a free lunch was laid on at the back of the hall. Lots of sandwiches and cake. Who can argue with that!
After the food, we then had a tour around the campus. My Mum walked around it with me too. Our tour guide showed up pretty much every part of the Uni and it was very nice indeed. I especially loved the fact that it had its own gym and swimming pool right on campus! It was a really nice day too so it really showed off the University well.
After the tour, we went to go sit back down in the hall. I then had the oppurtunity to go and speak further with my tutor, while my Mum had the oppurtunity to stay in the hall and learn more about student accomodation and University fees.
The tutor who had interviewed me took me and four other students up to a room to talk to us. The first thing I noticed about the room was the computers. Verrrry nice. Some Apple iMacs and some G5's, all looking very new and shiny. I could see myself using them.
We sat down around a computer and he talked to us while going through a Powerpoint presentation. "If it gets boring, just tell me and I'll shut up", he said. After he had gone through a few pages, he said "Ok this is getting boring for me now, sorry about this!"
After he'd talked, he gave us an oppurtunity to ask questions. Someone asked how many people would be on the course and he said 44. I asked him about his background and he said that he started by designing cover artwork for records and then I realised why he'd known about Peter Saville. I asked him other questions too, such as what the atmosphere was like and does everyone get on with each other. He said that the course was actually quite new and it had only been running since September so essentially, all of the equipment was still very new.
"I mean I'm not trying to sell the course to you", he said, "We're supposed to, but you know, I'm just here to teach and tell you what we have to offer"
After that, he then happily showed us quite a few other places around the university that we may use within our three years there including the art rooms and woodwork.
At the end of our little tour, some of the other students asked him some more questions and one was how many hours do we work. He said it was hard to answer. He said that we have about three hours each day, for four days a week with a tutor, but that we're expected to carry on that work for a whole day. He said that as long as we worked 9-5, we'd get through the work easily. He also gave us an example of just how much work there was, saying we get four projects every six weeks. That's a hell of a lot of work!
After that, we said goodbye to him and thanked him for showing us around. He seems like a really nice guy and someone that I could see myself working with.
On our way back to the hall, I talked with a student named Danny, who had the same opinion as me. He agreed that this looked like a great Uni and that all that he had seen today had really swayed his opinion of where he wanted to study. It had done the same for me too.
Once back at the hall, I found my Mum and sat down. On the large projection on one of the walls, I saw lots of accomodation figures, while the guy at the front was talking. Once he had stopped talking, I then saw a woman with a microphone go into the audience, where parents were waiting with their hands up to answer questions. It was great. A very good idea. He answered as many as he could.
After that, we headed back home. I had really enjoyed my visit Chester. I got accepted and I had enjoyed the tour around campus. Not only that, but the way everything had been put together had impressed me. The video, the tour, the campus and the Q&A forum. It was perfect. This was now the University where I wanted to study.
Of course with a place so great, there is always a catch.
According to my Mum, the guy at the forum had said that anyone within a 30 mile radius would be excluded from getting accomodation at the University. This was worrying for me, because I knew I wasn't very far away at least in a car. I mean, it only took us about 30-45 minutes to get from my house to the University.
On the way back, we kept an eye on the mileage. Once back at my door, we looked at it again. 31.7 miles. Now that's cutting it close. However, that's going by the roads. I know that the University would go by how the crow flies and then you're looking at around 25 miles. If my Mum is correct in what she heard, then I may well be out of luck with accomodation at Chester University and it's the campus life that I want. I'd rather live in a tiny room for a year and have the oppurtunity to make friends and have a social life than live somewhere else.
I sent an email that night to Chester University, asking them to clarify their position on this 30 mile radius rule. They got back to me yesterday, saying that it wouldn't affect my chances of getting accomodation. They said that they could not guarantee accomodation, due to the amount of people applying, but the factors involved in allocating that accomodation where a mix of three things:
1) Whether the student has made Chester University their first choice.
2) Whether they have been given an offer by their tutor.
3) Something else that I can't remember.
So, according to them, the mileage issue shouldn't be a problem. I hope not.
In addition, I also sent another email to their customer services email simply saying that I really enjoyed their visit day and that it was all put together well. Someone emailed me back thanking me for my comments and if I needed anything else answering, just let them know.
Altogether an excellent University.
Up next, Cumbria. But I'll save that for the next entry.
